Yes, Steve Bannon was a “Passionate” Grateful Dead Fan Before Being Consumed by Evil

Rob Slater | March 15, 2017

The Daily Beast profiled the man pulling the strings on the Donald Trump puppet inhabiting the White House for the time being, Stephen Bannon, through the eyes of his college friends and there are some stunning revelations including the fact that Bannon was a passionate Grateful Dead fan while attending Virginia Tech.

"He was a Grateful Dead fan," John DePaola, who lived with Bannon for a year, said. "The guy was passionate about it. He said something like, ‘I gotta play this song for the campus,’ so he came up one night [during my show] to talk about [Arnold] Toynbee, and then played “Unbroken Chain” by the Grateful Dead as a tribute. He also did a brief little speech before the song—an Arnold Toynbee salute—about the importance about his work. [His death] really moved him as a 22-year-old."

One can't possibly be sure where Bannon's passion for the Dead ended and his appetite for deconstructing governments began, but the article suggests he began to "drift rightward" with age. Way, way right.

The piece also mentions Bannon's affinity for Bruce Springsteen ("It was the Born to Run tour, and Steve was excited."), which is equally as baffling. But at least him and Chris Christie now have something to chat about.